One of the largest Civil War engagements in West Virginia, it effectively ended organized Confederate resistance in most of the state.
Key Facts
- Date
- November 6, 1863
- Location
- Pocahontas County, West Virginia
- Union Commander
- Brigadier General William W. Averell
- Confederate Commanders
- BG John Echols and Col. William L. Jackson
- Outcome
- Union victory; Confederates driven from Droop Mountain
- Confederate escape route
- Southward through Lewisburg, West Virginia
Location
Cause → Event → Consequence
During the American Civil War, Union forces sought to eliminate Confederate military presence in West Virginia and destroy the strategically important Virginia and Tennessee Railroad. Brigadier General Averell led a brigade into Pocahontas County to engage a smaller Confederate force under Echols and Jackson holding defensive positions on Droop Mountain.
On November 6, 1863, Union forces under Averell attacked and drove Confederate troops from their breastworks on Droop Mountain. The Confederates lost weapons and equipment and fled south through Lewisburg, escaping just hours before a second Union force under Brigadier General Alfred N. Duffié occupied the town.
Although Averell achieved a tactical victory, he failed to destroy the Confederate army or damage the Virginia and Tennessee Railroad. Post-battle, organized Confederate resistance in West Virginia largely collapsed, with fighting shifting east to the Shenandoah Valley and the eastern panhandle. The Confederate army escaped and briefly returned weeks later before the region was secured.
Belligerents & Mobilization Analysis
Side A
1 belligerent
William W. Averell, Alfred N. Duffié.
Side B
1 belligerent
John Echols, William L. Jackson.